I think Chelsea came out of the three way transfer saga between themselves, Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund looking stronger!

They managed to get a Premier League proven striker in Oliver Giroud, who has all the attributes they were looking for, and he cost just £18m.

While they also allowed Michy Batshuayi to leave on loan to Dortmund with no permanent deal in place. That means the young Belgian internationalist can get the games he needs at this stage of his career and that will no doubt help his development. If he comes back from Germany after scoring goals in the Bundesliga, then Chelsea will either have a re-energised hitman or a sellable asset who they can sell for a lot of money.

Chelsea Football Club has today completed the signing of Olivier Giroud from Arsenal.

I have no doubts that Giroud is a fantastic signing for the English champions.

His link-up play is excellent, he has fantastic aerial ability and he can also hold the ball up. He will come in hungry to prove himself and keep his place in Didier Deschamps’ Les Bleus squad for this summer’s World Cup.

Chelsea’s playing style will suit he thirty-one year old down to the ground and vice-versa. He’ll be able to strike up a great understanding with Eden Hazard. The two should fit each other like a glove with great interplay that will hopefully see both scoring more in the second half of the season.

Other attackers like Willian and Pedro should also like playing behind Giroud as he has the touches and understanding to bring other forwards into the game and in dangerous areas of the field.

Oliver will also love the supply line that the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Marcos Alonso, Danny Drinkwater and Cesar Azpilicueta will provide him. Nice diagonal balls into the box should be eaten up by the big forward.

It’s clear for everyone to see that Alvaro Morata is struggling with the rigours of the English game. That should mean that Giroud will get plenty of minutes on the park. It should also be noted that the Blues have the league, the Champions League and the FA Cup to contend with between now and the end of the season.

When you think of the other possibilities that were being mentioned in the transfer window; Andy Carroll, Peter Crouch and Ashley Barnes aren’t in the same class as Giroud. The Blues fans will and should be delighted with that bit of business.

The big question will be ‘who will Giroud’s manager be at Stamford Bridge?’

To me, Antonio Conte is writing the biggest goodbye letter in history. The Italian just doesn’t seem overjoyed to be in London and managing Chelsea.

He continually moaned at his board during the last window, that’s after doing the same during the summer window also. Conte hasn’t been complimentary about the new recruits and that hasn’t gone unnoticed.

We all know that if you have a go at owner Roman Abramovich or his regime, then the chances are that you are going to be sacked.

Losing 3-0 at home to AFC Bournemouth last night will have the Russian billionaire’s trigger finger twitching.

“It will be very important to look at the reality and to know that, if we are able to reach a place in the Champions League, it will be a great success for us. Otherwise we have a normal season.”

Finishing outside of the Champions League places can’t be classed as normal for this Chelsea squad.

Now Manchester City have been terrific this season, so challenging them is out of the question this term but I can’t see a reason why Chelsea shouldn’t be aiming for a second place finish.

At the moment I think Antonio Conte has thrown the towel in and looking beyond his current job. His negatively seems to be having an impact on his squad and if they don’t finish in the top four positions come May, then the blame has to be placed at Conte’s door. Whether he’s still there or not!